Day 39: Amish Bakeries and Ice Cream Shops

The 92 mile ride to Niles, OH today became a bit longer due to some missed and wrong turns. Gil said it took him about an hour to "get it together" due to being tired from the past few days' rides and then they were following some other cyclists and weren't watching the cue sheets themselves. The whole group missed a turn and ended up having to climb a long hill to get back to the correct route. It was a very warm day and they were watching out for thunderstorms most of the day and were rained on several times. At about the 45 mile point they stopped at a nice restaurant which was in a converted barn. As they were going to leave it started to rain. The group considered waiting awhile and the owner of the restaurant checked the weather for them on his computer. A much larger thunderstorm was heading their way, so the riders decided to leave immediately in the rain and try to beat the larger storm. They reached the hotel right before the larger storm hit.

Gil stopped at one point to take some pictures of about a dozen foals in a fenced area near the road. He stopped at a Dairy Queen a few miles out from Niles, OH to eat and arrived at the hotel in Niles around 4 pm. Supper was at a Country Buffet and was very good.

Gil's Cliff Notes [added by Jean; Dad doesn't think he'll be able to send pictures tonight, but they will be added if and when he's able to]
A frustrating day. Started by following group out of hotel that made an error in directions. This immediately added 4 miles to today's ride and a rather large hill. Later in the day we missed another turn and added more miles. As a result rode just over a hundred miles. But hey, I'm here and I did it. Also got rained on today. First 40 miles had quite a few hills before the route flattened out a bit. High point was coming across a number of ponies about 25 miles into the ride. Another high point was stopping at fudge shop in Canal Fulton (a small town). Had an apple fritter and coffee, which lifted my spirits and helped power me over a couple of hills. Arrived at hotel at 4 pm just as a severe thunderstorm broke loose. Barely in the door when it cut loose. Looking forward to the rest day after tomorrow's ride to Erie, PA.